Meet Mark

I'm on the right, interviewing Phil Wilder, cross country coach at Lexington's Dunbar High School, at a 2008 regional meet.

Ask me when I fell in love with sports and you may as well ask when I first registered a pulse. I can’t recall ever being without either.

As a boy in suburban Chicago, I grew up watching the Cubs AND the Sox (baseball), the Bulls AND the predecessor-Zephyrs (NBA), the Blackhawks (NHL), da Bears AND the Cardinals (NFL).

Nearby Northwestern University provided my collegiate fix, where I’d meet the top 50-or-so pro football rookies as they practiced twice a day over three weeks for the annual College All-Star Game.

If only my athletic skills had matched my sporting opportunities!

Instead, I may have been the skinniest and slowest high school football player ever, my Little League-curveball never curved and my ability as a distance-runner/high-jumper was good enough to win a grand total of ONE high school competition.

At the University of Akron, I set an NCAA record that may never be broken: Slowest distance runner in a sanctioned competition.

And I’ve never stopped loving sports.

While in college, Track & Field News magazine provided me with the opportunity to write about up-and-comers as well as world-class athletes.

Since graduation, sportswriting has been my occupation – from the Painesville (Ohio) Telegraph (1974-77) to the Anderson (S.C.) Independent (1977) to the Lexington Herald-Leader (1977-).

My job (my hobby) has taken me to 11 Olympics in eight countries, a Super Bowl, World Series, NCAA Championships and countless other high school and collegiate events.